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384

Broken promises.

We were promised that the US and coalition efforts in Afghanistan would bring peace to a land of war and democracy to a land of terrorists, theocrats, and warlords.

And now, after 2,448 American service member deaths and spending over $2 trillion, the Taliban controls Afghanistan and the Acting US Ambassador has fled the $770 million embassy in Kabul (which the Taliban now owns). The Afghan presidential palace is theirs.

We were promised by George W. Bush and his administration that the promotion of democracy – even through military force – would “be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution.” That the United States, through supporting the “growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture,” could end “tyranny in our world.” He said that “the advance of freedom will lead to peace,” that the multi-generational project in Afghanistan was essential “for the sake of our own security.”

We were promised by neo-conservatives that democracy throughout the world would be the pinnacle of man’s social evolution and that this process could be sped-up “with the right application of power and will.”

We were promised by the generals and the national security bureaucracy that progress was being made in Afghanistan. That the Afghan government was a stable and courageous partner.

They all lied.

In reality, the neoconservatives were operating under the foolish assumption that exporting democracy will make a bad world good. (Only God can do that.) The Afghan government was ripping us off. The politicians deceived us about what American sons and daughters were dying for.

And our generals were making knowingly false statements about the status of the war in Afghanistan, a revelation to the public after stellar reporting on The Afghanistan Papers by the Washington Post.

The highlights:

While US Generals said they were making steady progress with training the Afghan army and national police force, “US military trainers described the Afghan security forces as incompetent, unmotivated and rife with deserters.”

“Every data point was altered to present the best picture possible.”

More at link.

Broken promises. We were promised that the US and coalition efforts in Afghanistan would bring peace to a land of war and democracy to a land of terrorists, theocrats, and warlords. And now, after 2,448 American service member deaths and spending over $2 trillion, the Taliban controls Afghanistan and the Acting US Ambassador has fled the $770 million embassy in Kabul (which the Taliban now owns). The Afghan presidential palace is theirs. We were promised by George W. Bush and his administration that the promotion of democracy – even through military force – would “be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution.” That the United States, through supporting the “growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture,” could end “tyranny in our world.” He said that “the advance of freedom will lead to peace,” that the multi-generational project in Afghanistan was essential “for the sake of our own security.” We were promised by neo-conservatives that democracy throughout the world would be the pinnacle of man’s social evolution and that this process could be sped-up “with the right application of power and will.” We were promised by the generals and the national security bureaucracy that progress was being made in Afghanistan. That the Afghan government was a stable and courageous partner. They all lied. In reality, the neoconservatives were operating under the foolish assumption that exporting democracy will make a bad world good. (Only God can do that.) The Afghan government was ripping us off. The politicians deceived us about what American sons and daughters were dying for. And our generals were making knowingly false statements about the status of the war in Afghanistan, a revelation to the public after stellar reporting on The Afghanistan Papers by the Washington Post. The highlights: While US Generals said they were making steady progress with training the Afghan army and national police force, “US military trainers described the Afghan security forces as incompetent, unmotivated and rife with deserters.” “Every data point was altered to present the best picture possible.” More at link.

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[–] • 2 pts

Meh. And double, and triple-meh.

We shouldn't have been in there in the first place. The WTC attack didn't come from Afghanistan. It was used as an excuse to invade. That's not specifically "treason", though it was definitely criminal under different cover.

We shouldn't have stayed there, through multiple Presidential reigns we never left, and the deaths should be hung on their necks, not Biden's. Even Trump bears some responsibility for our being there for so long, despite his being blocked at every turn. Again, criminal behavior but not specifically "treason".

Biden took ownership of the situation by "embracing and extending" the evacuation. The military, under his senility guidance, then proceeded to do so in the stupidest manner possible, handing weapons to the Taliban on their way out instead of destroying them in place or giving them to the Afghan government. It's almost as if that was intended. Again criminal, again not under the "treason" term.

I'm glad the US is out of that morass. Hopefully the five thousand troops Biden is sending to guard the withdrawal now aren't going to be used as a new casus belli.

[–] • 0 pt

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Seems there is a fine line between criminal and treasonous.

[–] • 0 pt

Biden was in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation in regards to those weapons. They were given to the Afghanistan military. If we had taken them, we would have been condemned for leaving them without any weapons. Since we did leave them behind, we were condemned for arming the Taliban. It's the Afghanistan military's fault for surrendering and handing them over. And all of the US Presidents since W who gave them over to a corrupt and incompetent military who never had any intention of standing on their own.

You are 100% right on all the rest of it. We never should have gone there, we never should have stayed there, and whoever was in charge when it ended was going to get blamed.

Glad we finally GTFOd. Kinda sorta feel sorry for the people there who got a taste of nation-building only to have it snatched away, but it's not our business. They want a government that will more or less leave them alone.

[–] • 0 pt

As i understood it the US military rarely informed the Afghan military and or Govt when exactly they where leaving those bases- there reports of afghan military commanders waking up one morning last month to find US military forces had all left the main base in the middle of the night and turned the power off, lol, as well as leaving the weapon dumps and stockpiles completely unattended and full of supplies. Total purposeful fiasco.

[–] • 0 pt

Entirely possible. I'm piecing together information on the fly and for sure I do not have all the answers.

[–] • 0 pt

Biden was in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation in regards to those weapons. They were given to the Afghanistan military.

That's not what I heard. Supposedly most of the bases were evacuated without notice and the weapons abandoned, and the Afghani military did not get most of it before it was looted. Could be wrong though.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Trump signed a deal with the Taliban in February 2020. In exchange for the US releasing 5000 Taliban militants and agreeing to pull out of Afghanistan, they agreed to stop shooting at the US soldiers. The last American soldier that was killed in Afghanistan happened on Feb 8, 2020. (They did not make such an agreement with the Afghanistan military.)

Although this was a little chaotic, it had been planned ahead for months.